The third quarter (July-September) has turned out to be an ‘amazing quarter’ for Indian private equity (PE) with investments worth $6.1 billion in 184 deals, the best-ever quarter in the history of private equity, surpassing the fourth quarter of 2007 which had witnessed investments worth $5.4 billion in 179 deals, a report has said.

“The first three quarters of calendar 2015 together attracted $13.8 billion, which is an all-time record,” says a PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.

The third quarter has seen investments doubling compared to the same period last year and a 36 per cent hike compared with the previous quarter. The third quarter investment inflow was $2.9 billion in 134 deals, whereas Q2 of 2015 saw investments of

$4.5 billion in 159 deals, according to the PwC MoneyTree-India report.

The IT and ITeS sector made up 58 per cent of the total deal value with $3.6 billion from 112 deals, which is 91 per cent higher than the previous quarter and more than double that of the year-ago period. The energy sector attracted $549 million in seven deals, while a single deal in telecom brought a $500-million investment. Late-stage investments have continued to perform well and attracted $2.4 billion, while the market saw buyouts worth $1.5 billion, PwC said.

Sandeep Ladda, leader, technology, PwC India said: “The technology sector has once again emerged as the leader in terms of value and volume of investments, with e-commerce leading the pack. More than $3.5 billion was raised in this quarter, which is more than double the amount in the same period of the previous year.”

“The central bank’s decision to revise the interest rate downward will only provide a better platform for industries. With worldwide anxiety around China’s economy slowing and commodity prices not likely to see significant improvement in the foreseeable future, the next few quarters (years) can only lead to heightened interest from all investors in Indian assets,” Sanjeev Krishan, leader, Private Equity, PwC India said.

After a second quarter of ‘super exits’, which witnessed exits worth $3.8 billion from 67 deals, the third quarter saw exits worth $1.6 billion from 48 deals, PwC said. This is a 58 per cent drop from the previous quarter, and marks a 25 per cent surge as compared with Q3 2014, which saw exits worth $1.3 billion.